Hold My Hand to Your Heart

Hold My Hand to Your Heart

By Candace Shultz

For just a little while

We have to live apart.

So whenever you miss me,

Just hold my hand to your heart.

Imagine that we're hugging.

Imagine that I say,

“Daddy, I love you.

Have a good day!”

Wishing You Were Home

On Friday, May 23, Cassandra Miller prompted the Facebook poetry group No Direction Home to write a poem that involves the word moon, whether the poem is about the moon or the word just appears briefly in the poem. I wrote the following poem in response to that prompt.

Wishing You Were Home
By Candace Shultz

I look out my window and gaze at the moon.
An ache in my heart, your picture in my hand,
I think about you in that land of sand.
Are you looking at the same bright stars?
Are you thinking about me as I think of you?
Do you miss my kisses, hugs so tight,
Making love under mask of night?
Do you look at my picture
And wish that you were here?
Because I sure do wish that you were near.

I look down at your picture
And gaze into your blue-gray eyes,
Trying my best not to cry.
I trace my finger across your lips,
Counting down the days until our next kiss.
And though I know we'll be okay,
I still wish we could skip to the day
You'll step off of the plane and into my sight.
Our eyes will meet. Our hearts will race.
We'll finally come face to face.
A hug and a kiss. No longer alone.
A thank you to God that you're finally home.

Farewell

Today is the final day of National Poetry Month. I followed NaPoWriMo's prompt of writing a farewell poem, which seems appropriate for a final poem. This poem concludes 30 poems in 30 days, though I'm sure I'll be writing more poetry (and short stories) in the near future.

Farewell 

By Candace Shultz

The date is set.

Soon you'll go.

What we'll do without you,

I don't know.

My heart is aching.

I don't want the time to pass.

I just wish our days with you

Would forever last.

But the weeks move quickly,

The day is near

When you'll board that plane

And disappear

For months on end

While we stay here

Praying for your quick return,

Wishing you were near.

Who will kiss our daughter goodnight?

Hold her close, read her a book?

Who will swing her high in the air?

Without you, there will be no proper cook.

I will do it, but it's not the same.

There will be no one to cuddle with me at night.

No boots to trip over or uniform to hang.

No one to make our bed just right.

Who will I talk to when I'm sad and alone?

You always make my world feel brighter.

I'm not ready to say goodbye.

Hold me longer. Hold me a little tighter.

Just know that when you're gone from home,

Two people love you: your daughter and your wife.

And when you finally return to us,

We'll be waiting, happy with you in our life.

If I Were a Pony

Today is Day 29 of National Poetry Month. My poem is inspired by the TV show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

If I Were a Pony
By Candace Shultz

If I were a pony, I wonder who I'd be.
A fashionista like Rarity?
No. I can't sew clothes or mend any tears.
A party thrower like Pinkie Pie?
No. I don't want to plan parties, bashes, or fairs.
An animal lover like Fluttershy?
I love cats and dogs, but I'd be scared of a bear.
And I couldn't be like Rainbow Dash flying through the air.
If I were to run or fly, I'd just crash, I bet.
Could I work on a farm just like Apple Jack?
Getting dirty on a farm? That you can forget.
Could I be like Twilight Sparkle, reading stack
After stack of books, studying all the time?
I love to read, but her magic is just not for me.
No, not one of these ponies could I mime.
After all, a pony I am not meant to be.

But if I were a pony, this is what I'd do:
I'd join the Cutie Crusaders, be one of their crew.
I'd write them each a story about an inner gift:
A carpenter, a singer, and a scooter rider.
Sometimes I think those fillies just aren't too swift.
So when they read my stories while drinking apple cider,
Maybe, like me, they'd understand their spark,
And then we could all earn a cutie mark.
I wonder what my mark would be?
Pencil? Paper? Typewriter? Scroll?
I think I already know what I would see.
Fountain pen? Blog page? I'm on a roll.
No. On my flank I'd see a book.
I love to read. I love to write.
Knowing my talents is all it took.
Day after day, night after night,
I like to create a story, poem, or tale.
I might not write for the Foal Free Press,
But I am surely an author without fail.
In this I certainly feel blessed.

Blackout Poetry - River of Darkness

Today is Day 28 of National Poetry Month. My sister Cassandra prompted me and our fellow poets in No Direction Home, a Facebook group of poets and writers, to write a blackout poem based off of page 74 in George R. R. Martin's book A Game of Thrones. You can find my sister's blackout poem on her blog. Here is a copy of the original page before I wrote my blackout poem:

And here is my blackout poem:

This is how I imagine my poem would look written out:

River of Darkness

By Candace Shultz

The stars came out.

Silver bells rang softly.

It was full dark

at a place beside a small stream.

She felt as fragile as glass,

as weak as water.

Helpless and trembling,

she began to cry.

He towered over her,

a river of darkness,

unmoving,

silent.

The night air was chilly.

She was afraid.

Asleep

I decided to write a haiku for Day 27 of National Poetry Month. There's only 3 more days to go!

Asleep

By Candace Shultz

My eyes are closing

of their own accord. Your voice

is fading and I'm...

The Way to My Heart

Today is Day 26 of National Poetry Month. Only four more days to go! Based on NaPoWriMo's prompt for today, I wrote a curtal sonnet. It's a shortened form of the sonnet, having 10 1/2 lines (the 1/2 line is the last line) instead of the usual 14 lines. The rhyme scheme is abcabc for the first stanza of 6 lines and then dbcdc for the last stanza of 4 1/2 lines. I found this type of poetry challenging, but fun. 

The Way to My Heart

By Candace Shultz

Forget the roses and the flower pots

unless you want to see the flowers die,

the petals falling one by one, the dirt

so dry, the leaves so brown for want of lots

of water days after we say goodbye.

I'm just not good with flowers. Don't be hurt.

I'm telling you to get me chocolates:

Muddie Buddies, Hershey Almonds, or pie.

A Hershey Kiss? You'll see a smile. I'll flirt

with you all day. But a Cadbury gets 

you a dessert.